Belt-stretching machine



(No ModeL) B. M. PLUMMER.

BELT STRETGHING MACHINE. No. 31,825. Patented Dec. 1, 1885. A Q Y dim @mnn III 1m I II] A l 01 I I, Q I

I I III I" f l '3 g [I' I I" Q 1 t I, II I ll I III UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN MURRAY PLUMMER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

' BELT-STRETCHING MACHlNE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,325, dated December 1,1885.

7 Application filed July 1, 1885. ScrialNo.170,374. (No model.)

To all whom it may 0076067721.

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN M. PLUM- MER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Belt- Stretching Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In the manufacture of belting an important feature in the process is depriving the new belt of its capacity to stretch and of' the excessive amount of oil and other matters with which it is saturated. This is generally done by stretching the belt in long frames over rollers.

My invention relates to belt-stretching machines; and its object is to provide a machine which shall occupy a small space, and which shall do the work in the most effective manner.

To this end my invention consists in the combination, with a suitable frame, of two or more pairs of power-driven rolls whose circumferences move at different speeds, and in the combination of two or more pairs of rolls having different circumferential speeds with a clamping and guiding device.

It also consists in certain other combinations, which will be fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal central section of my improved machine; Fig. 2, a detail perspective View of the clamping and guiding device.

A represents the frame of the machine. It should be sufficiently substantial to support the heavy strain brought upon it. It consists of two upright side pieces firmly secured at the base and connected by strong tie-rods.

B and B represent a pair of rolls mounted in the rear of the machine. They have their hearings in boxes in the frame, the upper one being movable, and adapted to be adjusted vertically by a screw, which is driven by a worm-gear operated by means of a hand-wheel.

O and 0 represent the forward pair of rolls, which in this case are larger than the rear rolls. They are hung in the frame in a similar manner to that above described, the lower bearing being fixed and the upper one movable and operated in like manner with the up per rear roll.

The two lower rolls are geared together, and the power is applied to either of the shafts, the upper rolls moving by friction on the lower, or can be geared to the lower. It is evident from the difference in size of the two pairs of rolls that the circumferential speed of the forward pair will be greater than that of the rear pair, and that when the movement of thegearing is such as to turn the rear rolls toward the center of the machine and the forward rolls away from the center, if a belt were passed between the rear rolls and then between the forward pair, the tendency would be,when the rolls moved, to stretch that part of the belt between the rolls; but in practice, after pass ing the belt between the rear rolls, I run it over the top of the upper forward roll, around the same, then between the two, and around the lower roll to a receiver or storing-reel; or the belt may be passed beneath the lower roll first. This is done in order to give a frictiongrip to the belt and prevent its slipping on the forward pair of rolls.

At the rear of the machine I have provided a device for guiding the belt to the firstpair of rolls as it passes through, in order that it may be evenly stretched, as well as for giving tension and scraping and removing excess of oil, &c. This device consists of two jaws, D D, which extend across the roar of the frame just opposite the opening between the rear pair of rolls. The lower jaw, D, is T-shaped and movable vertically, and the upper jaw is L-shaped and bolted to the frame. Through threaded holes in the end of the horizontal portion of jaw D pass screws d. These screws are connected with the lower jaw, and are provided at the upper enduwith small bevel-gear, which mesh with similar gear on the shaft 0,- or awormgear can be used. This shaft is provided with a hand-wheel, the turning of which causes the screws to turn and the jaw D to raise or lower. Mounted in bearings at each end of the fixed jaw is the right and left screw rod 6, which is provided at one end with a hand-wheel, and has mounted upon it between the bearings two pendent guide-pieces, c. When the shaft 6 is rotated, the guidepieces 6 move either toward or away from each other. I

The operation of the machine is as follows: A belt is passed between the guide-pieces e 6 through the jaws D D. The right and left screw is then rotated sufficiently to bring the guide-pieces close to the edges of the belt, so as to guide it straight to the rods and gage it to a constant width. The belt is then passed between the rear rolls and around the forward rolls in the manner shown, and the end caught on the storing-reel, or the ends are joined so that the belt may be run through the machine any desired number of times. The clampingjaws D D are then clamped onto the belts, the upper rolls screwed down to the proper degree of tension, and the machine started. That portion of the belt between the clamps and the first pair of rolls will be subject to heavy longitudinal strain commensurate to the tension of the clamps, and that portion between the pairs of rolls will also be subjected to further strain by reason of the difference in circumferential speed of the rolls.

It is also observed that the amount of strain of the first section will be regulated by the clamping-jaws and that of following section by the amount of variation in the surface speed of the rollers, which of course must be small and regulated to correspond with or not exceed the amount of stretch in the material.

It will be observed that the pairs of rollers, instead of being of different size, may be geared together with different-sized gearing and the same results obtained, and also that the number of pairs may be increased as desired.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a belt-stretching machine consisting of two or more pairs of rolls, gearing for driving the forward pair at greater circumferential speed than the other, and means for adjusting the rollers of each pair with relation to each other, so as to regulate the tension on the belt, all combined and arranged as described.

2. In a belt-stretching machine consisting of two or more pairs of rolls, gearing for driving the forward pair at greater circumferential speed than the others, and means for adjusting the rollers of each pair with relation to each other, so as to regulate the tension on the belt, and an additional clamping and tension device, all combined and arranged substantially as described.

3. In a belt-stretching machine consisting of two or more pairs of rolls, gearing for driving the forward pair at greater circumferential speed than the others, and means for adjusting the rollers of each pair with relation to each other, so as to regulate the tensionon the belt, and a clamping and guiding device, all combined and arranged substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a belt-stretching machine consisting, essentially, of two or more pairs of rolls, of a guiding-device consisting of a right and left screw rod and two pendent guide-pieces by which the belt is guided to the rolls and regulated as to width, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN MURRAY PLUMMER.

Witnesses:

J. B. JARDELLA, (lens. A. HENZLER. 

